The five themes of slavery are dehumanization, treatment, paternalism, economics, and agency. The five themes are how enslaved people were viewed, treated, and how they reacted to being enslaved. These applied to all enslaved people, including: Black people, Native American or "Indian" people, and white people.
Theme 1
Dehumanization
Dehumanization was a part of how enslaved people were treated. To put this simply, dehumanization is when you compare people to inanimate objects and treat them as such to make them feel as though they are on a lesser level than you. It is a power play and is used to crush human spirit and make it easier to keep power over somebody. This was used in slavery to keep somebody obedient and easier to control. Examples of dehumanization in slavery are whipping and putting them on the same list as property if you were to take inventory and have a land sale, as supported in the document for Ebenezer Stanton's Inventory, where it has an indentured enslaved woman named Rose and a boy named Charley, who was also indentured, with prices on them. No human should ever be given a price, this is an example of dehumanization because they are being labeled with a price like a lamp or a horse would.
Theme 2
Treatment
Treatment was, well, how the enslaved people were treated. They were treated horribly, seen as less human than white folk because of their skin colour. They did not have the same rights as white folks, and they were treated like objects. Some examples of this are for an enslaved Native American man named Bocha, he was put on a bill of sale with a price of £45. He was about 25 at the time. He was to belong to Samuel Scranton and his heirs for 80 years, or the rest of his life unless Scranton decided to free. Treatment falls under the same category as dehumanization for the most part.
Theme 3
Paternalism
To put it simply, paternalism is the practice of a group of people's liberties and rights, usually with the claims that any actions taken upon them are "for their own good," and it will generally restrict the group's freedom. Paternalism generally contains an authoritative figure and a subordinate figure, with power and freedom going to the authoritative figure. An example of this is the indenture of Moses, an enslaved man, being indentured to Ruth Naughty(e). This means he was basically leased to her, like a car. This handed over Moses' freedom and life to Ruth for a specific amount of time before going back to the original owner. Slavery was generally viewed as "for their own good," as according to older documents and websites earlier searched in our school year, the enslaved people would be helpless and live in even worse conditions if they were either kept in their original placement or if they were to be freed.
Theme 4
Economics
If we think about it hard, economics in slavery would come first. Economics are how enslaved people were bought, traded, and brought to any place who had slavery. Enslaved people were brought via boat from Africa, South America, and islands near South America. They were traded for commercial goods such as rum, dried fish, materials to build with like carpentry and metal, and tobacco. As for when slaves made it to America, there would be these things called slave auctions, where wealthy people looking for labourers could go and purchase enslaved people using their currency (pounds - £ - and shillings). Slave auctions often resulted in enslaved families being broken apart.
Theme 5
Agency
Agency is when an enslaved person shows desire to leave, resists doing their work, and preserves their humanity. Examples of this can be when an enslaved individual may fight back or resist against their enslaver and their work. One somewhat common form of resistance is when enslaved people run away to show their desire for freedom and skill to be able to sneak away. While most of these people were not educated, they were extremely street smart. Slave owners put up advertisements, and while most enslaved were caught, most would escape again.
